News

    In Nantou, there are 4,172 people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and mental retardation (MR). The county government has designed an intelligent wristband with a QR code printed on it to prevent the patients from getting lost, provide heartfelt services to those in need. On August 18, the County Government sponsored a press conference to release this new wristband. Magistrate Lin Ming-chen expressed his gratitude to Nantou Real Estate Development Association to donate NT$300 thousand for the manufacturing of this wristband and discounts would be given to first 600 people with mental retardation identifications.

    Magistrate Lin expressed that this new intelligent wristband can minimize the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and MR patients from getting lost. It is possible to recognize their identifications by just scanning the QR codes printed on the wristbands with smartphones. Then, the police or social workers can contact their families immediately to help them home. In the future, the County Government will secure more funds to make more intelligent wristbands to help those folks in need.

    The County Government launched these intelligent wristbands to prevent Alzheimer’s disease or MR patients from getting lost, becoming homeless or unidentified people in hospitals and elderly homes. With this new device, we can help them home safely. For those people in need of this new gadget, they can apply at the Department of Social Welfare and Labor and district offices. Equipped with it, the identities of the wearers can be located immediately for immediate help in case of getting lost.

    During the conference, Magistrate Lin also presented a certificate of gratitude to the director of the association, Tai Tsung-ho, for its donation. Meanwhile, he expected more people and institutions to contribute more charity funds to make more intelligent wristbands for those people in need, fulfilling their social responsibilities.

    The Department of Social Welfare and Labor expressed that according to its estimation, there are 4,172 Alzheimer’s disease and MR patients in Nantou County, and 1,263 of them are holding related identifications. In accordance with the Long-term Care Insurance Act, the County Government is active to provide multidimensional care network to the Alzheimer’s disease and MR patients. This intelligent wristband is just a part of this scheme. In the future, people at the age of 65 or above will have first priorities in the evaluations for the application of this intelligent wristband. Meanwhile, people from mid- or low-income families will be considered to be presented with it for free, and 50% discount for ordinary families.

    In addition, in this year, the Department of Health has also secured NT$3 million from the Integrated Community Healthcare Network Scheme sponsored by the Central Government. It plans to work from the basics by training 142 Care and Concern Pioneers and 43 Visitors to monitor residents in their communities. Once they locate any suspected Alzheimer’s disease or MR patients, they will recommend them for therapy in the first time.